Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service

Mission
Our mission is to do the work of Jesus Christ, providing hope, respect and guidance towards a path to prosperity.

Vision
Our vision is to bring hope to an impoverished people by coaching, encouraging, empowering and equipping them to identify and overcome obstacles. We seek to help our friends overcome poverty, set goals to gain progress, and keep pointing them to a path to prosperity and establish long-term self-sufficiency. We do this through wrap-around resources and long-term coaching supported by education, employment preparation, supportive services such as food, clothing and medical support, finance coaching and credit repair, employment coaching and job attainment or increased income.

Since 1951, Peoria Friendship House of Christian Service (PFH) has made a powerful difference in the Near North side and East Bluff neighborhoods of Peoria and beyond. We have a heritage filled with stories of how we brought hope into people's lives. PFH was founded as a response to the great need for assistance to individuals and families living in deep poverty.

Our Advocacy, Coaching, Education and Support approach provides wrap-around services supported by short- and long-term coaching for Latino and English-speaking communities. We provide valuable services such as food, clothing, youth education, adult education, employment preparation, and finance and employment coaching, while encouraging lasting change for those we serve. We are dedicated to providing hope and guidance that offers a “hand-up” rather than handouts.

Our Core Programs

Financial Stability Program: A career and personal finance service center that helps low- to moderate-income people build smart money habits and focus on the financial bottom line.

Friday Night Takeout: A daily food distribution program that provides over 50,000 meals per year to hungry men, women and children who are willing to travel to our facility.

Health Support Services: Nurses from local hospitals administer routine medical services at PFH every week, and a mobile doctor’s office administers checkups and maintenance procedures once a month.

La Familia: This program strives to restore dignity and protect our local Latino community by providing culturally responsive and healing support across the lifespan, from children to seniors.

Service WORKS: This program addresses the needs of men and women, and involves the resources of community partnerships to provide GED classes and on-the-job training.

S.T.E.A.M.S. Academy and Summer Program: An after-school program for Kindergarten through 8th grade students that focuses on increasing learning potential, with a concentration on one-on-one tutoring, enrichment activities and service learning opportunities. It features the STEM curriculum, which includes FIRST® LEGO® League, allowing the children to research, design and build a LEGO® robot. Our goal is that the children will grow to love learning and look beyond simply passing their school courses, but dream to excel far beyond.